- Aluminium sees highest drop of 2.88%
- LME stocks exhibit negative trends w-o-w
At close of trading on 21 Friday, 2025, base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) showed mixed trends, with aluminuim witnessing the highest drop of 2.88% w-o-w. Meanwhile, LME warehouse stocks exhibited negative trends, with zinc down by 8.42% w-o-w.
On LME, three-month aluminium stood at $2,547/tonne (t), down by 2.88%, while nickel prices increased by 2.01% w-o-w to $16,380/t. Copper prices were at $9,794/t, down by 0.62% w-o-w, while zinc decreased by 2.42% w-o-w to $2,857/t. Lead was up by 0.42% w-o-w to $2,025/t.
Aluminium
India’s imported aluminium scrap prices showed declining trends which fluctuated by up to $50-80/t w-o-w.
BigMint’s benchmark assessment for Tense scrap originating from the US was at $1,940/tonne (t), decreasing by $15/t w-o-w, while Wheels from the UK stood at $2,440/t, dropping by $60/t w-o-w, both CFR west coast, India.
Copper
Copper scrap prices in India headed north this week. Copper armature scrap was assessed at INR 810,000/tonne (t) ex-Delhi, down by INR 14,000/t w-o-w, while motors mix tags moved down w-o-w to $1,170/t up by $10/t.
Secondary continuously cast rods (CCRs) (99.90%) were assessed at INR 875,000/t ex-Delhi, reflecting a downtrend of INR 875,000/t w-o-w. Meanwhile, primary CCR prices dropped by 1.3% to INR 910,000/t.
Zinc
Zinc prices remained largely stable w-o-w. Imported zinc diecast from the Middle East was assessed at $2,180/t CFR Mundra, up by $30/t w-o-w, while domestic zinc ingots remained stable at INR 284,000/t.
Hindustan Zinc Limited’s (HZL’s) zinc ingots, however, inched down by INR 1,500/t w-o-w to INR 300,200/t ex-Jodhpur.
Lead
In this segment, domestic primary ingots remained stable at INR 203,000/t, while re-melted ingots stood at INR 184,000/t. Meanwhile, HZL lead ingots increased by INR 5,700/t w-o-w to INR 208,400/t ex-Jodhpur.
Chinese base metals market overview
In the week ending 28 March, deliverable base metals inventories at warehouses registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) displayed a mixed picture, with nickel showing a gain of 14.1% w-o-w to settle at 36,925 t, according to the exchange’s weekly stock report.
Other updates
Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, has been redirecting some of its spot sales to the United States, The state-owned miner said output totaled 1.328 mnt, a touch above the 1.325 mnt, it reported for 2023 and within its target range.
Codelco said it expects 2025 output to reach between 1.37 million and 1.4 million tons.
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